Police are appealing for help identifying two thugs who threatened to stab a man as he walked home after a night out in Exmouth.

“I have never been so scared in my whole life. I thought he was going to die when I heard them say they were going to stab him.”

The girlfriend of a man threatened with a knife and kicked to the floor by two thugs in Exmouth has spoken exclusively to the Journal of the chilling attack.

Sarah* was unable to help her boyfriend Oliver*, or raise the alarm, because she was hundreds of miles away in York - she had been speaking to him on his mobile phone when he was attacked while he walked home alone after a night out with friends.

Exmouth police say they are ‘shocked’ by the severity of the unprovoked attack, which happened in the early hours of Saturday morning, in Victoria Way.

Help is needed to identify the two white men in their late teens responsible for the attack.

Police are appealing for private CCTV footage filmed from homes and businesses in the Victoria Way and Imperial Road areas.

Oliver, aged 27, had been working in Exmouth for less than a week when the thugs struck.

New to the town, he was staying in a bed and breakfast in Exmouth while Sarah tied up loose ends in York, ready to join him for a fresh start in Devon.

Oliver was attacked at around 1.20am on Saturday on his way back to his accommodation after a night out with work friends.

He called Sarah on his mobile phone as he walked home. Moments later he was threatened by two lads, who demanded money, telling him they had a ‘shank’.

Hundreds of miles away on the end of the phone, not knowing where Oliver was in Exmouth, Sarah was helpless to raise the alarm.

All she could do was listen in horror as Oliver was threatened with a knife and violently kicked.

“I heard them say ‘Give me all your ******* money’. He was saying ‘I don’t have any money’,” said Sarah.

“When they said they were going to stab him I was thinking the worst. I was screaming down the phone. I couldn’t do anything to help him. I could hear them kicking him.”

Police said a taxi drove past while Oliver was being attacked. He tried in vain to flag the vehicle down.

Fleeing his attackers, Oliver ran for safety - all the while connected to Sarah by phone.

“I heard footsteps running but I didn’t know who it was,” said Sarah. “I was screaming down the phone to see if they would talk to me. When he stopped and spoke to me I was so relieved.”

PC Sallyanne Southern, at Exmouth police, appealed for witnesses and CCTV footage from around the attack area. The taxi driver who passed the scene is also being sought.

PC Southern said: “This was a completely unprovoked attack and the consequences could have been a lot worse. This is not a common occurrence for Exmouth and it does not give a good impression of the town. We want to catch these people.”

Call police with information on 101, quoting crime number CR/104720/14.